Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Kimberly Calkins | U.S. Army Pvt. Randall Soto, a heavy equipment operator assigned to the 500th Engineer...... read more read more
CAMP TRZEBIEN, Poland – Within the dense population of pine trees emerges a grey swath of finely laid 16mm gravel, edged in tan, with evenly spaced concrete posts running adjacent to the 300-meter-long unmanned aerial system runway – the first completed Resolute Castle 2018 engineer project at Camp Trzebien, June 5, 2018.
The UAS runway was a joint engineer project between the 3rd Construction Company, Danish Engineers and the U.S. 500th Engineer Support Company, 15th Engineer Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, during their RC18 training rotations in support of Atlantic Resolve. The Danish engineers began the project in April with the U.S. engineers finishing it at the end of May.
“This is the first UAS runway in this training area and in the region that U.S. forces can use,” said 1st Lt. David Solomon, an engineer plans officer with the 15th EN BN. “It enables Regionally Allocated Force units to stay and train together.”
Prior to this UAS runway being built, units would have to travel to Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area in northern Poland or to Grafenwoehr, Germany. However, now the RAF units can co-locate to conduct their 9-month training rotations in one location.
“The mission was directly assigned to us by the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Engineer at U.S. Army Europe,” said 1st Lt. Gregory Lorino, a platoon leader assigned to the 500th ESC. “It is an engineer mission for an echelon above battalion level.”
Beyond completing a monumental project in a short time period, the Soldiers assigned to the 500th ESC learned different engineering techniques from their Danish counterparts, enhancing their training abilities during the construction of the UAS runway.
The Danish construction approach of completing the UAS runway was a different process than how the 500th ESC intended to complete the project.
“The Danish completed their part of the project using 10 feet strips all the way down,” said Lorino. “Whereas, we were going to do it in three-350 feet sections.”
The 500th ESC followed the 3rd Construction Company’s approach since they had already completed 65% of the project using the 10 feet strips. Overall, the units built the UAS runway in layers. First, an 8-inch foundation layer was created. Then giant rolls of geotextile fabric, a permeable fabric that protects the soil and allows for drainage of the soil above and below the fabric, were applied.
“The most challenging part was working in this dense sand,” said Lorino. “The geotextile fabric keeps the runway from sinking into the sand.”
Finally, a six-inch crowned layer of aggregate and sand was layered and compacted on top of the geotextile fabric to achieve a runway that will hold up year-round in the eastern European weather.
Once the layers were completed the 500th ESC began adding the edging along the runway. A section of trees approximately 12 feet wide and 300 meters long was cleared on one side of the runway in about 30 minutes.
“We needed more clearance area on the side of the runway,” said Lorino. “We stripped and cleared the trees before we built the area up along the edge of the runway.”
For the final touches, large rock, known as riprap, was applied to the sides of the runway for drainage purposes before a skid-steer, an engine-powered machine with two arms and a front-loading bucket, was used to mount 36 tons of concrete railroad ties upright as fence posts to keep out all-terrain vehicles that frequent the trails surrounding Camp Trzebien.
“Nothing can be above four feet on either side, so we carefully measured the height of the fence posts,” said Lorino. “We then added the wire for the fencing with white flags tied to it for safety purposes.”
The 500th ESCs training was enhanced by working with the 3rd Construction Company by being exposed to another country’s engineering equipment. The Danish had a laser level with sensors attached to both ends of a grader blade, so the grader operator could adjust the grader up and down as necessary said Lorino. The 15th Engineer Battalion is interested in the same technology provided by the U.S. Army.
“Any time we get to work with a host nation or a partner nation, troops enjoy using each other’s equipment,” said Lorino. “It improves operator skills by using other countries equipment.”
The UAS runway is complete and now waiting for the final project inspection to certify that the UAS runway is free of any obstructions and that a UAS can go through a proper landing sequence.
“It is a privilege and an opportunity to showcase our capability to USAREUR,” said Lorino. “Now our Soldiers have a better understanding of how to build an airfield from the ground up.”
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 06.08.2018 06:16 |
| Story ID: | 280114 |
| Location: | CAMP TRZEBIEN, PL |
| Web Views: | 331 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Joint Partnership Runway Ready for Take Off, by SFC Kimberly Calkins, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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